“Sahin.”
At my call, a figure appeared behind the kids surrounding me.
Like a ghost, he emerged without anyone but me noticing his presence.
“Sahin!”
[My lord, where are we?]
After spending the whole break grinding dungeons, I was so glad to have Sahin back.
“Watch where you’re looking!”
The leader of the tough girls, who instantly caught on when I glanced over her shoulder, snapped at me with a fierce expression.
At her words, I quickly lowered my gaze and gave Sahin a command only he could hear.
[Scare them off a bit. Just enough to rattle them.]
A flicker of confusion passed over Sahin’s face.
But soon, realizing the situation, a faint wrinkle appeared on his graceful brow.
Then, as if he was never there, he vanished.
A chilly energy crept up from my feet.
Swish—
Something darted swiftly between me and the girls.
A moment of silence followed.
[Still not enough.]
Even though the one grabbing me was a D-rank awakened, and the other two weren’t even awakened, they had guts.
The leader, who had frozen while only her eyes moved, suddenly came to her senses and tried to grab my collar again.
“Se-Sena…!”
That’s when the girls flanking her, who had just been standing there trying to look intimidating, called out to her at the same time.
Their voices were full of barely concealed terror.
As she began to turn to respond, Shin Sena—the leader—stiffened completely before she could turn her head all the way.
A lock of Sahin’s long hair draped over her shoulder like something straight out of a horror movie.
“KYAAAAAH!!”
‘Wow, what a scream.’
I kept my head down, pretending to be timid, but glanced up to observe the situation.
[Sahin, disappears again.]
Just as Sena whipped around, eyes blazing like she’d never screamed, Sahin’s form faded like a ghost, and soon there was nothing but empty space before the girls.
A quick exchange of glances passed between the three of them.
“How dare you look down on me?!”
Shin Sena, the only awakened one in the group, stepped forward, pulled a weapon from her inventory, and swung it.
“Come at me! I’m someone who can take down monsters!”
But in the blink of an eye, the worn-out dagger that had been slicing through the air with each swing flew out of her hand.
Sahin, once again invisible, had knocked the weapon out of her grasp, and I mentally showered him with praise.
The remaining two girls turned pale at the sight.
They began to back away—slowly at first, then in full sprint.
“KYAAAAH! A GHOST!!”
Screaming like the whole school could hear, the two girls bolted away from the incinerator area at an incredible speed.
“Hey, hey! Where are you going!”
Shin Sena, who had hastily grabbed her weapon and was scanning her surroundings in a defensive stance, shouted irritably.
What a beautiful friendship that was.
Grinding her teeth as she watched her friends already vanish into the distance, Shin Sena marched toward me—still leaning against the wall with my head bowed.
It was impressive that even in this situation, she hadn’t forgotten her sense of duty.
Shff—
But just then, Sahin passed between us again, revealing himself briefly before vanishing.
Thanks to Sahin, who assessed the situation and acted shrewdly, Shin Sena’s face turned perfectly pale.
Thud—
The dagger slipped from Shin Sena’s hand and fell weakly toward the floor.
Or rather, it was about to fall.
As it dropped, the dagger suddenly stopped in midair—as if someone had grabbed it.
Then, as if being handed to her, the hilt of the dagger was presented right in front of Shin Sena’s face.
“E-Eeek! Aaaah!”
Judging by how the top girls reacted when they saw Sahin, it seemed that when a person is completely consumed by fear, there are two main ways they react.
The first: run for your life.
Like how the other two girls, aside from Shin Sena, had screamed and bolted earlier.
The second…
Boom—
A stone flew past my face and slammed into the wall behind me with a force that didn’t match its size.
Debris crumbled from the dent it left in the wall.
Shin Sena, eyes wild, picked up the stones scattered at her feet and hurled them without hesitation, breathing heavily as she exaggerated her movements and swung her dagger around.
“Come out! I know you’re there!”
With this much noise, they should be arriving any moment now.
I stood motionless, deliberately within the range of Shin Sena’s attacks, and waited until I sensed someone’s presence.
They’re here.
It wasn’t long before the sound of multiple footsteps rapidly approached.
Even in this “inso” world where teachers were practically nonexistent, things changed when a student was leaking magic everywhere and going on the offensive within the school.
“Shin Sena! Put that down right now!”
Still thinking Sahin was nearby, Shin Sena continued her assault until her arm froze in midair.
“Ugh, you—damn it!”
Trying to force her trembling arm to move again, Shin Sena looked up at the empty air and screamed, her voice laced with a sharp edge.
She seemed to think her movements were being restrained by a ghost, as her voice quivered ever so slightly.
While Shin Sena screamed at the empty space, I looked over her shoulder to confirm the people who had arrived to end the situation.
At the entrance to the incinerator.
Behind Eun Bada, whose disheveled blue hair suggested he had run here with the teacher, appeared Ji Kanghan, walking expressionlessly.
‘It’s Ji Kanghan.’
They said he could control the wind freely—he must have used invisible wind to restrain Shin Sena’s movements.
Meanwhile, the teacher, looking toward where I was standing, gasped in shock and rushed over to me.
“Dana! Are you okay? Oh my, look at the wall!”
Just then, more debris crumbled from the dented wall right next to my face.
As the teacher frantically examined my face for injuries, Eun Bada approached from behind her.
After glancing briefly at me, he stopped in front of Shin Sena and spoke with a rare stern expression that was usually hard to see on him.
“Shin Sena. What do you think you’re doing at school? You know your actions have crossed the line, right?”
“Th-There was a ghost! A ghost dropped my dagger and then tried to hand it back to me—it was an attack, Bada! It was… just really, really scary!”
Shin Sena, living up to her title as a leader among the Four Heavenly King fangirls, instantly changed her tone, sniffling as she tried to throw herself into Eun Bada’s arms.
Whether she failed to notice Eun Bada’s hardened expression and voice, or simply assumed he would comfort her no matter what—perhaps because she truly was frightened.
But when Eun Bada coldly pushed her away without hesitation, the shocked look on Shin Sena’s face turned toward Ji Kanghan, who was standing behind.
Unlike Eun Bada, who had come out of a sense of responsibility to resolve the situation, Ji Kanghan looked entirely indifferent.
With one hand stuffed in his pocket, he leaned against the wall, silently watching us before turning his eyes to follow a butterfly fluttering nearby.
“Kanghan! I swear, I’m innocent! I saw a ghost, so I—”
“Shut up.”
“…Huh?”
Completely ignoring the teacher, Shin Sena had been too focused on pleading with Eun Bada and Ji Kanghan.
But even that was cut short by Ji Kanghan’s cold tone.
His purple eyes calmly locked onto Shin Sena.
“Dana, wait here for a bit.”
“Yes, teacher…”
We can’t let this slide.
The Hunter Management Bureau would definitely come to the school.
“Se-na, go wait in the staff office.”
Just like that, Shin Sena was practically escorted away by Eun Bada toward the staff office.
Ji Kanghan, after giving the teacher a polite nod in response to her thanks, headed off somewhere as well.
And I turned alone toward the classroom.
Hallway.
Once I got upstairs, the hallway was empty, with only faint sounds of classes continuing behind closed doors.
***
Meanwhile, at that moment, the incinerator tucked away in a corner of the school.
Someone appeared alone during class hours.
Their black hair shimmered with a blue tint in the sunlight.
They stood quietly, gazing at the spot where Dana and the queen bees had been earlier.
Tilting their head, they muttered:
“Fire?”
There was a faint trace of magic and a deep, dark flame energy lingering near the spot where
Dana had been slammed into the wall.
It was a force so delicately controlled and of such a high grade that even most sensitive
Awakened individuals wouldn’t have easily noticed—unless they were someone like him, who could handle fire with expert precision.
Ssssk—
He ran his long finger over the ground where the unfamiliar fire’s residue could still be felt, and his eyes gleamed slightly with interest.
“Whose power is this?”
He murmured in a voice tinged with curiosity and looked up.
Between the empty hallways—deserted during class—someone was striding by with bold, confident steps that didn’t quite match their elegant appearance.
With each step, her light brown, wavy hair swayed behind her.
The person who had caused that wall slam had disappeared without a trace, and no trace of magic remained in the incinerator room.
***
Rattle—
As the back door of the classroom opened during the middle of class, every eye turned to me.
“Dana! Are you okay?”
“I heard there was a magical disturbance—what happened?!”
“Yeah! I definitely felt it. Did Shin Sena use a skill on you or something?”
Wasn’t this supposed to be class time?
The teacher stood alone at the front with a piece of chalk, while the students had all left their seats and crowded around me.
Even in a world like this where class wasn’t taken too seriously…
“Guys, shouldn’t we be having class…?”
The teacher’s pitiful attempt to call the students back with a stretched neck and pleading tone made me feel sorry for her.
“We’re in class, so I’ll tell you later. I’m fine.”
Squeezing out the sweetest voice I could manage, I smiled and returned to my seat.
The teacher sighed in relief, and class resumed.
***
During the next break.
“Dana!”
“What happened earlier? Tell us everything!”
“Even Bada and Kanghan went outside. Did she really use her power on you?”
“Come on, you can tell by looking at her! I always knew Shin Sena would pull something like this. Her vibe just screams ‘trouble.’”
“She does kinda have that mean look.”
The story was quickly taken as fact, and opinions against Shin Sena spread like wildfire.
The mood turned sharply against her, with people slandering her character like it was second nature.
No one seemed interested in hearing my side.
And I didn’t particularly feel like explaining either, so I quietly escaped to the bathroom.
***
“You heard what happened with Shin Sena’s group?”
“Apparently she almost went after a girl from Class 3. Using a skill on a civilian—she’s nuts.”
“I heard she could get a disciplinary transfer or even expelled.”
“Really? God, I hope so. I’ve hated her forever.”
I had just been about to step out of the bathroom stall when I froze, one hand on the door.
“A forced transfer or expulsion?”